Behind a Wall of Sand
by Midnight Memories
Summary: When a girl gets injured in a sand storm and gets found by Temari, she finds out she has to stay with them for a while. She then meets the infamous Sabaku no Gaara and the latter gets to chance to prove that he isn't such a monster after all. GaaraOC.
1. The Sand Storm

Disclaimer   
I do not own the characters except Kenoyo Kimura. Actually, I don't own her either. She belongs to Bonez, and the Naruto characters all belong… to the dude who created Naruto. Obviously. -.-'

Note  
Firstly, this was my first fanfic ever, so don't expect it to be... breathtaking. I did rewrite it with my new grammar knowledge, thought I kept the original plot. I barely had any Naruto knowledge when I did write it, so if there's some tweaks, don't get pissed...

Also, if anyone says Gaara is OOC (especially now that I rewrote the story), well find me a Gaara story where he **isn't** OOC...

Dedication  
To my friend Bonez. Girl, sorry but I'll have to take every "HAPPY BIRTHDAY BONEZ!!" from the chapters out... But you know I mean them, eh!?

Rated  
T for romance themes.

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**Chapter one: The Sand Storm**

Kimura Kenoyo gasped, struggling to draw in a precious, sand less breath as she walked through the desert. She told herself for the tenth time today that this had to be the stupidest thing she had ever done in her whole life. What was her Sensei thinking, sending her to give a message to a friend of his in Sand Village? Now, the 17 year old kunoichi from Konoha trudged through the sand storm, frustrated as hours trickled by. There was still no sign of the hidden village and her water supply was getting dangerously low.

Kenoyo nearly ran into a large rock that stood two feet in front of her, only noticing it when it blocked the raging wind filled with sand from her face. She plopped down beside her protective shield and dropped her pack beside her, pushing her jet black hair away from her tired face. Her blue eyes were aching with the sand that had entered them while she walked, but it was the least of her problems right now.

After a short pause, she got up and stepped back in the storm, her mind aching with the task ahead of her. It was late afternoon and the last thing she wanted was to thread through the desert in the middle of the night. It was confusing enough already, no need to make her situation worse with darkness.

Another long, exhausting hour trickled by as the girl pushed through an intensifying storm. She started to cough, unable to swallow, and reached in her bag for the water bottle she had brought along.

Her hand gripped air.

Despite the heat, Kenoyo felt her blood freeze. She had left her bag behind the rock. Whimpering with sudden worry, she started to run up ahead, trying to find a way to get out of this mess. She was thirsty and the air was getting heavier and heavier, which wasn't a good sign.

After five more minutes, the heat became too intense for her and she sunk to her knees, unable to go on. The storm seemed to let up now that she had fallen, but after a good fifteen minutes she slowly felt the sand covering up her body. As if she was snapping out a daze, Kenoyo suddenly struggled to keep her head out of the sand, but her legs were too numb for her to pull them out. Her fears intensified when she realized she couldn't do anything beside feel the sand slowly crushing her body under its sudden weight, and the pain eventually became excruciating as blackness smothered her vision.

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When the color came back in front of her eyes, it was almost as if a knife had pierced right through her brain. Kenoyo blinked a few times to clear her blurry vision and the figure looming above her smiled. She then felt the pressure of the mattress and the pillow under her, but she had no clue where she was and who this slightly older girl was.

Kenoyo immediately seized up the other girl and vaguely noticed a second, much bigger figure standing in the back of the room. The girl was tall, blonde, with a Sand Village headband across her neck. _'Wait,'_ Kenoyo thought to herself. _'Sand Village? You mean I actually made it?!' _

"Here, drink this. You must be dehydrated," the blonde girl said, tipping a cup of water to her burning lips. The thirsty girl drained the whole glass, then sank back down on her bed, whispering a quick thank you.

"My name's Temari, and my brother over there is Kankuro. We found you half buried in sand just outside the village, we had to dig you out. You're slightly burned from the heat of the sand, but there's no other damage. I suggest you stay with us for a while to recover," she diagnosed quickly, shooting a glance behind her.

Then the other presence in the room stepped forward and Kenoyo could finally see his face. He had dark purple marks in his face and his head was covered in a sort of hat that had… were those ears? Yes, they were. But she didn't make anything out of them and gave Kankuro a wobbly smile, thanking them again in a soft voice for rescuing her as she introduced herself properly. Kankuro shifted uncomfortably and uttered, "I'm not sure about this, Temari. Does she have to stay _here_? I mean, what if Gaara doesn't appreciate it…"

Temari frowned slightly at the mention of her little brother, but then shrugged and the smile came back to her face. "Well he's going to have to get used to it, will he? We'll take care of her, he won't have to do a thing!" she chipped in, turning back to the feverish girl.

Kankuro turned and left the room, grumbling that Temari would be the one to announce to Gaara that a guest would be staying in their house for a few days. But his sister didn't listen and sat on the bed, whispering that her brother was an idiot.

Kenoyo had watched the exchange in slight fascination, straining her mind to recall a small detail from years ago. She had heard that name before, Gaara of the Desert. The only problem was that she didn't remember anything about him. "Who's Gaara?" she asked through a heavy, tired voice.

"You'll meet him soon enough. Now sleep, Kenoyo, it's bed time for everybody," Temari announced, then got up from the bed as the black haired kunoichi nodded and fell asleep within seconds.

_'This is going to be interesting,'_ she thought with a smirk as she left the room and closed the door behind her.

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A/N: Hn, thank goodness I rewrote this. Poor Temari was so OOC I couldn't recognize her... Tell me what you think!

Take care! 


	2. The Meeting

Disclaimer   
Don't own anything. See chapter one for more info.

Note  
Just for the record, I'll put up the exact ages for the characters so you guys can have a better mental portrait of them. I know it doesn't really follow the canon plot, since Gaara isn't Kazekage in this story... bear with me, this is why it's called fan_fiction_...  
Gaara: 18  
Kankuro: 20  
Temari: 21  
Kenoyo: 17

* * *

**Chapter two: The Meeting **

Kenoyo woke up with another terrible headache as the sun filtered itself through a small window to her right. Since the sun shone quite hard, the injured girl figured it must be close to noon. Had she really slept that long?

Sighing, she propped herself up on her elbows only to groan and to fall back on the bed as her heavy muscles punished her for moving so fast after so much suffering the day before. She brought a hand up to her face and touched her burning forehead, evaluating the damage she had done to herself. Beside a horrible fever, her muscles feeling like lead, and being incredibly thirsty, she had came out of the storm without a scratch.

Well physical scratch, to say the least. In fact, she had absolutely no intention to leave the safety of the house for a few days. Kenoyo felt worry enter her stomach at the mere thought of going back in the desert, but she'd make sure this time to bring more than one serving of water.

Just as her head was hitting the pillow, the door opened quietly and Temari poked her head through the small gap. A satisfied grin spread itself on her features as she slipped in the room, followed by the oldest Sabaku male.

"Good morning!" she said, going to sit on the edge of the bed as Kankuro followed, silent as a tomb. "How are you feeling this morning?"

Kenoyo smiled weakly, wondering where the third sibling of the family was as Gaara's name slipped through her mind again. It tug at her brain teasingly, as if a distant memory was taunting her, slipping out of her mind and just out of her grasp.

"I'm okay, though my whole body feels like it's been put under cement for a few weeks," Kenoyo admitted, leaning her head back to try to ease the pain.

Her statement didn't faze the other girl as she smirked and kept on talking, "Well take all the time you need, you're welcome here! In fact, I think we might all enjoy a new person—" she stopped, her voice faltering as a distant door slammed shut.

Kankuro's eyes snapped up and his face paled slightly as he uttered, "He's home…" Temari's gaze also went to the door.

An uneasy feeling slipped into Kenoyo's stomach as footsteps seemed to drag their way towards the room. The brother and sister were silent, their jovial morning expressions fading to slight concern even if they both tried to cover it up.

After a few seconds, a figure emerged in the room, and when Kenoyo locked eyes with the stranger, she blinked in surprise at the sight of Sabaku no Gaara. He was pretty much everything she had thought he _wouldn't_ be. She had expected him to be more like his older siblings; tough and big like Kankuro, confident and proud like Temari. Instead, what her eyes met was this slightly thin, pale boy about her age with shocking ocean green eyes thickly outlined in black. His cold glare went straight to her and Kenoyo felt as if he was seeing her right down to her soul. She hated this feeling and her eyes turned away from his in an uncomfortable manner.

"Who is she?" were the first words he spoke.

His eyes were on Kankuro, but his older brother took a step back and stared at Temari. Since the older sister was looking around the room and was fingering the fan strapped to her back, Kenoyo picked up her courage and said, "My name is Kimura Kenoyo. I figure you are those two's youngest brother?"

Gaara only stared at her with mistrust gleaming in his eyes, not answering. Temari seemed to get back her senses as she stood up straighter and quickly introduced Gaara to her. So far, he didn't seem _that_ mad. Maybe he wouldn't say anything about their guest. But the blonde girl was wrong.

"So she's just traveling? She isn't staying?" he inquired coldly, clearly not wanting her in his house.

Kankuro then jumped in as he noticed the two girls looking at each other uncomfortably. "Kenoyo's injured. She's going to stay with us for a while until she gets better. Don't worry, she won't bother you!" With those words, he shot a warning glare at Kenoyo and she gave a meek nod in response.

Silence followed that explanation and the two older siblings shifted their gazes around the room. Just to crack the awkward silence, the younger girl asked, "What about your parents? Shouldn't you ask them if I can stay?"

Then the silence became even worse as the Suna trio eyed each other, unsure of who would answer. Finally Kankuro spoke up and said simply, "They're both dead. Our mother died at Gaara's birth and our father also passed away a few years ago..."

Just as he mentioned it, a sadistic smile formed itself on Gaara's lips and a nasty glean lit up his eyes, making the guest's blood freeze in her veins. Something told her that Gaara either hated his father very badly or he was the one who had caused this "mysterious" death. A shiver racked her body, but thankfully no one noticed it.

Temari then jumped up and excused herself, claiming that she had to prepare lunch. Kankuro followed her out of the room, stuttering that he needed to make sure she wouldn't poison them all this time. The pair left the two younger people in the room together while chatting about what to make for lunch.

Kenoyo was now alone with Gaara. He didn't leave, he only stared at her almost curiously, unsure of what he should think about the girl lying down in front of him. Then he shook his head and took a few steps towards the bed, still staring right in her eyes.

Just to break the silence that pressured her mind into an urge to scream, Kenoyo suddenly stammered out, "I-I think I heard someone talk about you before! I come from the Leaf Village, so is it possible?" She winced slightly at her stupid comment and question, then sunk lower in her pillow as she wished to disappear.

But strangely, Gaara answered her. "If you come from there, then you probably have heard of me. You surely heard that I have a demon inside of me and that I am a raging evil being who thirsts for blood and wishes nothing more than to demolish the weak who stands in my path," he said in his deep voice, not faltering as those cruel words slipped from his lips. Another sly grin made its way to his mouth, a smile that didn't reach his heart.

The girl looked at him in slight awe before she realized that she _really_ shouldn't be staring. She had known people with demons inside of them, but someone who actually admitted to thirst for blood? An uneasy feeling slipped in her stomach again, but she raised her head to look into Gaara's eyes, forcing herself so her fear wouldn't show. He wouldn't impress her.

Thankfully, Temari stepped through the door at that moment, bringing their host a quick lunch she had whipped up in minutes. She helped Kenoyo in a sitting position, then placed the tray on her legs and told her to put it on the floor when she'd be done, and she'd pick it up later.

When the blonde girl left, the raven haired one peeked back at where Gaara was, then blinked in surprise. He had vanished, she hadn't even heard him leave the room while Temari was there. Sighing, she quietly chewed on her food, listening as she heard Kankuro snapping from the kitchen that the food wasn't edible. She ate and drank for a few minutes, then set the tray down painfully before sinking back on the bed.

Kenoyo closed her eyes and allowed her mind to drift, yet the first thought it stopped on was Gaara. As much as he seemed to desire everyone to fear him, there had been something else in his eyes when he had spoken of his demonic origins. She strained her brain forecefully, trying to get the clear picture of the boy she had just met to stick in her mind, but the image slipped away. Only his cold, cruel eyes stayed in focus. Then it dawned on her what had been hidden in his eyes. That feeling that everyone probably overlooked, or if they noticed it would shake their heads and laugh at themselves for even thinking of something of the sort. But that small detail hadn't escaped her sharp eye. What she had seen, tucked away behind the thick wall he plastered around himself, was the emotion that could eat up even the toughest person inside: Loneliness.

Just before she closed her eyes to sleep, she vowed silently,

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A/N: Here guys, second chapter is up! How in the world did I manage to get it written as quick as I did will stay a mystery to everyone including myself! Thanks to my four reviewers! I appreciate it very much. I made it slightly longer, about 500 words more, but I don't know if you guys consider it to be too short again. Well tell me in your reviews!

Take care!


	3. Nighttime Encounter

Disclaimer   
Don't own anything. See chapter one for more info.

* * *

**Chapter three: Nighttime Encounter **

_Kenoyo fell to the ground, unable to breathe properly no matter how hard she tried to. Struggling, she clawed her way through the hot sand, tears sliding down her face. After a while, though, she couldn't go on anymore, and the sand slowly started to choke her. She tried to open her burning eyes, but her face was now covered in sand. Suffocating, she started to struggle even harder, trying to free herself of her dreadful prison. But all her efforts were in vain, and she started to slip into blackness, death coming straight for her…_

The girl woke up with a loud gasp of air, finding herself in the safety of the house. Whimpering, she sat up despite her pain and pulled her knees to her chest in a pitiful attempt to ease her racing heart. The room was dark; it was obviously late evening, so Kenoyo had slept all day. Soft, distant footsteps were heard and her features turned rigid as she worried that she had shouted in her sleep and had woken up the whole house. But the footsteps stopped and didn't start again.

After a few minutes, her heart had stopped its frantic race and she licked her dry lips, once again dehydrated. Standing up, she used her kunoichi skills to make her way to the door of the room stealthily. As she left her room, her eyes roamed the corridor to find that three more doors were around hers. Probably the Sabaku siblings' rooms.

Kenoyo creeped around the spacious house until she found the kitchen, feeling oddly like a thief rather than a guest. It was, after all, the first time she was out of bed and on her own. Wondering if she was allowed to roam freedly, she halted in the middle of the well furnished room.

Thirst was what made her move towards a cupboard, that she opened and rummaged through. Finding a glass, she filled it with a jug of water on the counter, then took a long drink and turned around to examine her surroundings more closely.

The first thing her eyes locked on though, was a pair of ocean green eyes staring right at her, making her gasp loudly as a rush of adrenaline shot through her body. She quickly covered her mouth, then looked up at the ceiling to avoid his gaze and whispered, "Kami, Gaara! You could've told me you were sitting right there!"

The sand ninja had no reaction whatsoever as she set down her glass on the counter, so her trembling hand wouldn't drop it. Afterwards, Kenoyo was about to excuse herself to go back to her room yet her observations from earlier about Gaara bothered her again. She finally chose to sit in front of him at the dining table as something occurred to her. She shot him a rather sheepish look before whispering, "Did I wake you? I think I shouted in my dream or when I woke up."

Gaara's cold gaze didn't falter, but a small gleam appeared in his eyes, almost as if he was surprised by her apology. "You did scream, but not loud enough to wake anyone," he informed her, watching as her shoulders sagged in relief. But then curiosity got the best of her and she asked gently, "Then why aren't you sleeping?"

He looked rather impatient, almost as if he was explaining something to a stubborn child. But she couldn't help her curiosity; it was too big for her. "I can't sleep because the demon inside of me will come out if I do. I never slept before, I never will."

Kenoyo's mouth fell open, but she quickly snapped it shut. He never, ever slept in his entire life? How in the world was this guy still alive? She stared at him for a while, wondering if he was joking or not. But he was serious; she could see it in his eyes. Sympathy filled her heart, making her want to reach out to him. "I'm so sorry, Gaara… Wow, the nights must be so long for you. Don't you get lonely sometimes?" she inquired innocently. Even if she looked slightly detached, she was waiting anxiously for his answer. Would he admit that he was and confirm her doubts, or lie and make herself look foolish?

Sighing, Gaara leaned back in his chair and seemed to hesitate, unsure of wether or not he should trust her. Finally, after a short silence, he murmured his answer so softly that the girl had to lean forward to hear it. "Sometimes, I guess I do," he admitted bitterly.

Kenoyo smiled; this was a perfect moment. The cold-hearted ninja was telling her things about himself. How unlike his usual 'go away' attitude. She then wondered if she should go on, or if she should just let it go and change the subject. _'Going a little bit further won't hurt,'_ she told herself with an inside smile, then said, "Well what do you do when you're lonely? Who are your friends?"

Gaara's face then darkened obviously and Kenoyo felt like kicking herself for not dropping the conversation when she had a chance. She was about to apologize when he answered, slightly rudely, "I don't have any friends." Then his eyes shifted slightly and his voice dipped as he continued, "And I don't want any either. I don't care about people."

_'Liar'_ Kenoyo thought instantly, seeing right through his false statement. _'You do want friends, Sabaku no Gaara. I'll let it go this time, but I swear that one day I'll befriend you and you'll know what it's like to have someone who cares!' _

Then a voice in her mind piped up and said, _"Friends… or something more?",_ making her wince slightly. But then her eyes rose to the boy her age in front of her, and she began to study him more carefully than she had done so the first time. He wasn't that thin, he seemed to have a somewhat strong body. His hair was slightly shaggy, the color of the deepest red she had ever seen. He wasn't ugly and if he wasn't so cold in the first place Kenoyo was sure he'd have tons of girls running after him. But his eyes were what had gotten her attention the first time. The black ring around them made the blue-geen of the pupils stand out in contrast and it could pierce through you like if its owner could read your soul.

Their gazes stayed locked into each other's, and Kenoyo found herself trying to read him through his eyes. There was so much pain in them, so much doubting everything around his being, even if he was in control of himself. '_He shouldn't have to feel this way',_ she thought to herself. Then she realized that they had been quiet for a few minutes now, which made her break the silence quickly with more probing. "Well what about Temari or Kankuro? Aren't they your friends, even if they're your siblings?"

The smirk he gave her was far from being a pleasant one. "Those two? They're just as worse as the rest of them. Who cares if they're my siblings? They only keep me around either to protect them, or because they'll feel guilty if they leave me behind," he sneered.

Not liking the look on his face, Kenoyo suddenly whispered, "But who are 'they'? What did they do to you? What did they do that was so bad that you can't trust anybody now?"

Gaara only stared at her, not answering. She could now obviously detect the sadness in his eyes, and whether he tried to hide it or not would stay a mystery. Kenoyo shifted, knowing he was on the edge of telling her something he had never told anyone. Leaning forward, she whispered gently, "Come on Gaara… you can tell me anything."

The sand ninja then stood up brutally, shaking the table and the chair slightly as the cold gaze returned to his face. "Why do you want to know? It's not really any of your business, is it?"

Surprised by his sudden change of emotion, Kenoyo didn't think of her answer properly. Instead, she snapped right back at him, "It is my business since all I'm trying to do is get to know you better! The only thing I get in answer is a glare or an evasive one!"

Right when she was done speaking, her face twisted into an apologetic expression, certain that Gaara would jump all over her. Bracing herself, she was expecting anything but what he said.

He slowly lowered his head, almost as if in shame, then uttered, "I just don't talk about myself." Then he turned around and left the room without another word, leaving her behind.

Kenoyo stared at the chair he just deserted, her mind whirring at the conversation they just had. But a smile slipped on her lips as she realized that he had somehow confided in her. She knew that deep inside, he probably yearned for someone to trust, someone who would look out for him out of love. And she knew that she was the perfect person to do so.

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A/N: Wow, a chapter in 24 hours! All hail me, and all hail the awesome teacher who told me I could go on the computer for an hour and a half and do whatever I want! It's thanks to her that I did this chapter so fast!  
Review please! And thanks to those who reviewed before, it's greatly appreciated.

Take care!


	4. The Sunrise

Disclaimer   
Don't own anything. See chapter one for more info.

* * *

**Chapter four: The Sunrise **

Kenoyo woke up earlier than she had expected to. The sun was still rising outside when her feet touched the ground. She heard a small ruffle of clothing and footsteps coming from the kitchen, so she trudged away from her room to go see who it was, hoping with all of her heart that it was Gaara. She wanted to see him again so badly, he had been trotting in her mind all night since their conversation. The girl had no clue why he stuck in her head, probably because she felt as if she had to be his friend.

Or maybe because she had feelings for him?

_'How can I have feelings for a guy that I just met?'_ she asked herself with a long sigh. But Gaara had this little air around him that made her just want to reach out to him and give him a long hug, something he probably had never gotten in his entire life. **  
**  
But when she reached the kitchen, she felt slight disappointment as she noticed Temari busying herself with making breakfast. The sister instantly felt the chakra emitted from Kenoyo and turned around, bidding her a good morning with her usual confident attitude.

"Good morning, Temari. Have you seen Gaara this morning?" Kenoyo asked her with a smile of greeting.

Temari cocked her head slightly, but didn't make anything out of her question as she answered her, "Yes, he's outside."

Without another word, she walked out of the house and found him sitting just outside the door, his back to the house. He didn't react to her presence when she came out, didn't greet her in any way as his eyes stared the rising sun.

"Can I sit with you?" she asked him quietly and he shrugged in response, still not saying a word. The girl sighed in slight discouragement, wondering if he was angry at her questions of last night. Finally, she said, "Look, Gaara, I'm sorry about what I said. Don't be angry at me, I was being nosey and I won't do it again." Like she wanted to prove her point, she lowered her head and kept her eyes away as she sat beside him.

But Gaara was quick to answer, "It's alright, Kenoyo. As I already said, I'm not used to talking about myself."

They both drifted into a strangely comfortable silence for a few minutes, but Kenoyo didn't want to spend their 'alone time' in complete silence. "How come you have a tattoo on your forehead? What does it mean?" she asked, breaking her earlier promise of not being nosey anymore.

A shadow crossed Gaara's face, but she didn't see it due to the fact that her eyes were focused in the distance. "This tattoo is a kanji for love and it means that I will never love anyone but myself, and that I care for no one but me. I live to kill, seeing people suffer makes me feel alive," he said coldly.

Kenoyo shivered slightly as his cruel words, but she had the perfect phrase to counter it. "Well what about the other side?" she asked, "The one that you never had a taste of? The kind of life where you'd get along with everyone and you'd have feelings of warmth, friendship, happiness… or maybe have a relationship!"

Since she was sitting directly beside him, their arms slightly touching each others', she felt him stiffen at the word "relationship". Grinning to herself, she pushed on, "Don't you ever feel jealous of the couples holding hands, when they kiss in front of everyone? Don't you ever wish that you had a girl to protect, to hold in your arms when you're discouraged and know that she's your reason to live?"

Gaara sighed and lowered his head in sadness. He said, "Well the only two girls who ever talked to me were you and Temari. All the other girls think of me as a monster, they don't even try to see who I am… Temari's my sister, so technically you're the first girl who pays attention to me..." he stopped, letting his sentence dangle slightly.

Kenoyo's head turned to him and her face lit up with a smile. Her cheeks turned to a slightly pink shade and she laughed quietly before turning back to the sun as it made the sky turn a light purple. She broke the silence between them and said, "Well no guy can hold my attention like you do, Gaara. I love being around you, whether you believe it or not."

Gaara turned to look at her and opened his mouth to speak, but the moment was broken as Temari shouted, "Gaara! Kenoyo! Come and eat! Kankuro, wake up!"

The pair's conversation stopped there and Kenoyo was the first to get up. Gaara, though, stayed behind just a few seconds to reflect.

--Gaara's P.O.V--

_'She is, after all, pretty... I don't know why she hangs around me, why she's working so hard to make me talk about myself. But it's actually as if she cares about what I have to say, unlike the few people I talked to in my lifetime. Even when I tell her how cruel I am, she doesn't seem to care, she just blows it off like it's nothing. But I know it bothers her. Maybe I do stand a chance…' _he thought to himself as he guided his eyes back to the sun, getting mentally ready for another day. But this day wouldn't be as horrible as the others; he had Kenoyo to hang onto if he was to get lonely now. He had a feeling that she wouldn't push him away, no matter how badly he was considered a monster by the rest of the village. He sighed, picking up a handful of pale sand and letting it fall slowly from his fingers as his mind wandered to Kenoyo, her beautiful smile, stunning blue eyes and slightly tanned skin. He stared back at the sand in his hand and in the pale glow of the moonlight, it looked almost like the same color as her skin. Shaking his head, he wiped his hands on his shirt and stood to walk in the kitchen for breakfast.

--Kenoyo's P.O.V. --

Her heart raced frantically as she slipped in her bedroom and changed in new clothes. Her mind was whirring madly, as Gaara's words turned into her head non-stop.

_"Temari's my sister, so technically you're the first girl who pays attention to me..." _

She repeated those words to herself over and over again, wishing with all of her might that it meant that he would enjoy being in a relationship with her. Hugging herself excitedly, Kenoyo twirled in her bedroom before laughing to herself quietly and falling on her bed. Sighing deeply, she tried to calm down her racing heart. But as long as Gaara was in her mind, it would beat like crazy, and there was nothing she could do about it.

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A/N – Actually I think I'll stop here and start up on chapter five.  
Review if you like the story please, because the more reviews I get the faster I'll write! Promise!

Take care!  
_  
_


	5. A Tainted Reputation

Disclaimer   
... My friend bought me a Sasuke keychain. Isn't it nice of him? That's pretty much all I own of Naruto...

A/N: As if I wrote two chapters in one day! I'm on a roll! ... But I did spend my entire day on this, you guys better enjoy it!

I'm calling it a day, even if I have a great idea for the 6th chapter. Maybe I'll break my resolve and start it tonight! We'll see...

* * *

**Chapter five: A Tainted Reputation  
**  
The three siblings and Kenoyo ate breakfast rather quickly. Temari and Kankuro were arguing over the taste of the food, with Temari clearly intimidating her younger brother with her glares, while Kenoyo was throwing glances at a quiet Gaara. He hadn't said a word, but that was to be expected. He, for some reason, refused to talk openly in front of his siblings. 

Once the plates were cleared, Temari slid a small pouch of gold coins towards Kenoyo and said, "You definitely need clothes while you'll be around here, so go into the general store and go buy yourself a few pieces. How are you feeling this morning?"

She smiled at the older girl's kindness and took the pouch, slipping it into her pocket. "Thanks for the money. I don't feel so bad, the heaviness is gone and I'm not as thirsty as I was yesterday," she said with a second bright smile, though her attention was mostly on Gaara.

After receiving instructions from Kankuro concerning the location of the general store, she stood up and bid them all goodbye. When she walked past Gaara, she gave him a friendly squeeze on the shoulder, letting her hand slip from his shirt as she walked by. Temari and Kankuro both looked at each other in surprise that Gaara had just allowed this girl to touch him. If anyone else would've done something the sort, he or she would be dead by now.

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A few minutes later, she stepped into the general store, peeking around herself at both the people walking around and the merchandise. She spent a half hour picking out clothing that would fit her, then stepped in line to pay for her items. Looking out of the bay window at the front of the store, she noticed a few teenagers staring inside at her, but she turned her head and looked straight ahead. It must've been because of the Leaf Village headband that sported her neck.

When she finally reached the counter, the clerk looked at her curiously. "Who are you? I've never seen you around here before!" he asked her with a friendly smile as he rang up her items.

Once he was done, she produced the money and he took it while she answered, "You haven't seen me around because I don't live here. I had a little incident in the desert and I'm taking a few days off here. I'm crashing over at a villager's house." She winced, realizing that she had come here to deliver a letter from her Sensei. The letter had been, along with her water and her pack, forgotten beside the rock.

The clerk was handing her some change, but froze when she finished talking. "So you're that girl everyone's talking about! You live at the old Kazekage's house!" he said, his eyes as wide as saucers.

"I guess so," she said, glaring slightly at the man. She saw him swallowing hard before he practically tossed her the bags with her purchases. He looked so terrorized that it was almost as if she was going to kill him.

Sighing, Kenoyo stepped out of the store, wondering why Gaara was so hated. He wasn't _that_ mean...

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the pack of teenagers that were eyeing her earlier. A sudden idea of taking a detour to avoid them entered her mind, but she pushed it away with a snicker. She was a kunoichi, for goodness' sake! They wouldn't impress her.

Suddenly, three people in her age group approached her, leaving their other friends behind. The two girls and the boy smiled as they stopped, all saying hi pretty much at the same time. Kenoyo eyed them warily, but answered them anyways out of courtesy, "Hi. Can I help you guys?"

One of the girls stepped forward with a big smile and said, "Welcome to the Sand Village! We heard that you were here for a while and we thought you'd like to meet some people your age! Want to come for a drink with us, there's a little place close to here where they sell some pretty good stuff!"

Kenoyo felt like answering that Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara were all around her age, but the girl's invitation was tempting. She did want to get to know some other people, so she agreed.

The trio led her through the streets to finally end up at a house that looked just like the others, but they went inside anyways. Strangely, what looked like a house was obviously a well-known restaurant around the village. After sliding in a booth, everyone introduced themselves.

The first girl, blonde and tall with black eyes, was called Natsumi. The other girl was the exact opposite of her friend, with light brown eyes and dark colored hair. She was named Azumi. Kenshin, her boyfriend, was a handsomely tanned boy with dark hair and eyes.

She bonded with the three instantly, laughing as they said jokes and just talked about stuff, sometimes slightly gossiping about others. Kenoyo started to relax around their friendly attitude, but the light subjects didn't last long. After a while, Kenshin leaned over and looked at her seriously. "We heard that you're living with Sabaku no Gaara. Aren't you scared of him?" he asked her quite seriously.

The two girls with him lost their smiles and looked at her expectantly. Suddenly very uncomfortable, Kenoyo shrugged and shook her head. "He's alright. He never tried anything," she said weakly, twisting her hands in her lap.

Natsumi winced and said, "Apparently he murdered his dad! His very own father, the Kazekage of our village! He murdered him! How in the world could he do something so terrible!?"

Kenoyo glared slightly at her, but couldn't say anything back. Gaara himself had admitted that killing people made him feel alive and that there was nothing else for him to live for. Plus the smile that had slipped in his face when Kankuro had said their father was dead…

"You should see the way he treats Temari and Kankuro!" Kenshin continued, looking at her. "I guess he's been quiet since you're around but usually he threatens them all the time! One time I saw him literally tell Temari to shut up or he'd snap her neck! Just like that, as if it was the most normal thing in the world!"

"But it's not as bad as what he did to Azumi…" Natsumi murmured, looking at her friend sorrowfully.

Kenoyo looked up at the dark-haired girl who clung to her boyfriend's hand fiercely. He smiled down at her and she took a shaky breath and looked up at Kenoyo. "I used to think it was sad to see him alone all the time, so I went to see him. I thought he was kinda cute, so I naturally started to flirt. And to my surprise, Gaara of the Desert actually flirted back with me. He used to run his hands through my hair and whisper how I was beautiful…

Then one day, he asked me to meet him alone, so I went. The second I was there, he opened his gourd and some sand came out and started to twirl around me. He said I was a nuisance and that I should die. The the sand came crushing on me…" Azumi stopped and started to bawl.

Kenoyo had had enough. She stood up and left without a word, not wanting to hear the rest of the story. But Azumi's voice rang through her mind. Was it true? And if it was, was Gaara doing the exact same thing that he had done to that poor girl... to her? Her tears seemed real enough, so could the account of what she had said be true also?

Once she was finally out of sight of the restaurant, the three teenagers burst into laugher at how gullible she was. "She is a great girl, though. Naïve, but she seemed cool enough," Natsumi said, shaking her head. "That monster doesn't deserve a friend like her! She needed to be told of what he's capable of!"

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A few minutes later, Kenoyo was back to 'her' place. She noticed, through the kitchen window, Gaara sitting alone in a withering tree, staring in the distance. But at the moment, her confusion was too great and she tiptoed towards the kitchen, but stopped when she heard Temari and Kankuro say her name.

Leaning in towards the sitting room, she pressed her ear against the closed door to listen.

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"Will you stop making illusions to yourself, Temari! You know as well as I do that Gaara cannot love, nor feel any positive emotions unless he's murdering someone that's completely innocent! He has no feeling for Kenoyo and I don't know why the hell she isn't dead right now! She stares at him all the time, her feelings are obvious! Admit it, there's no chance for those two! Come on!" Kankuro's angry voice lifted through the door.

"No, you come on Kankuro! Our brother might have a demon inside of him, but he is, first of all, human! He does have feelings like everyone else! You'd probably be just like him if Father would've tried to kill you all the time! So what if he's different, he's still our brother and I refuse that you talk about him that way!" Temari shouted back.

"Answer my question! Is there hope for Kenoyo and Gaara? There's none, and you know it!" he hissed.

There was a small pause, then she answered him more softly, "Okay I'll give you that. It does worry me when they spend time together. He's never been this friendly with anyone before!"

There was a ruffle in the room, as if Kankuro had jumped to his feet. "See! What if it's the new thing now! Be friendly with the victim, catch her unprepared, then…" he stopped, letting his silence say the end of his sentence.

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Kenoyo felt tears slipping down her face, and she pulled away from the door and walked to her room, then fell on the bed and started to cry as she rolled in a tight ball. Doubt filtered through her mind, killing all the happiness she had felt earlier this morning. She didn't want to see Gaara anymore, her heart was filled with fear about that… She winced; the only name coming to her mind was 'monster'. A small part of her told her to ignore everyone else and to focus on the sand ninja, but how could six people, and probably more, be wrong?

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A/N : Done chapter five. 

More than 400 views, but 9 reviews. o.O Someone do the math… I'd say some people aren't reviewing... Please, just jot me a quick note. Even if it's just a word, it'll take ten seconds of your time! And for those who do, thank you all a lot!

Chapter 6 is going to be pretty eventful, I'll give you that! So the faster you review, the faster I write!

Take care!


	6. Trust

Disclaimer   
Hn. If I owned Naruto, Kenoyo would be introduced as Gaara's girlfriend...

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**Chapter Six: Trust**

Kenoyo allowed the hours to pass by as she laid down on her bed. Temari was the only one who popped in her room and she claimed that her trip to the general store made her feel exhausted. But by supper time, she was starving and was getting bored to death.

The only thing that was keeping her from moving was fear. Pure, tainted fear. She didn't want to approach Gaara, she didn't even want to see him. The villagers had made their point, he was horrible. She had thought about the conversation all day, and Azumi's words kept playing over and over in her mind.

_"I used to think it was sad to see him alone all the time, so I went to see him. I thought he was kinda cute, so I naturally started to flirt. And to my surprise, Gaara of the Desert actually flirted back with me. He used to run his hands through my hair and whisper how I was beautiful… _

_Then one day, he asked me to meet him alone, so I went. The second I was there, he opened his gourd and some sand came out and started to twirl around me. He said I was a nuisance, and that I should die, and the sand came crushing on me…"_

Shaking her head to clear her mind, Kenoyo got up. Driven by hunger, she left the room and started to walk towards the kitchen. She could hear Kankuro and Temari from there, so Gaara couldn't do anything to her while they were in the same room as she…

-- Gaara's P.O.V--

_'I can't stand this anymore. She's driving me crazy. When she's not in my vision… I can't stand it!'_ Gaara thought to himself, sitting alone in his bedroom. He heard from Temari that her shopping day had exhausted her, so he posted himself in his room that was in diagonal of hers. He would be able to hear when she'd leave her room. He had planned it all in his mind. It was obvious that she liked him, even if he was a monster.

'_Does she like me or am I making the worst mistake of my life by allowing myself to trust someone again? I had vowed, when my uncle died, to never trust another human being as long as I lived. But I trust her. She wouldn't hurt me like they all did. Kenoyo's stronger than that'._

He then heard her footsteps slowly go down the hall. His heart started to race, something that happened only few times in his life. But over a girl? Never. He took a deep breath, calming himself down, and then called out her name.

--Kenoyo's P.O.V--

"Kenoyo?"

She froze, her head started to spin lightly as he called her. She didn't answer, though her legs refused to keep on moving. "Come here. I have to talk to you," he called softly from the inside of his bedroom.

"_Then one day, he asked me to meet him alone, so I went." _

She felt her body begin to shake with fear, but she licked her dry lips and pushed the door open, stepping in until she was in the middle of the room. She felt his presence in the darkening chamber but didn't say a word. The frightened girl figured that he was standing about six feet behind her when she heard the door closing. Her body was rigid and she couldn't move as she heard his heavy breathing in the silence of the room.

Finally, she forced herself to speak and said, "Yes?" She was surprised at how normal her voice sounded and she probably looked alright because Gaara walked around her and turned, looking right in her eyes.

Kenoyo took a step backwards, struggling between mixed emotions. Part of her wanted to relax and listen to what he had to say, yet the more dominant part of her shouted that she should run, that he was dangerous. Her hands started to tremble, and she quickly put them behind her back, lowering her eyes. She couldn't look at him directly because she knew that she'd break and run away.

Gaara sighed, the words not coming to him. He had spent the whole day coming up with the perfect speech, and now that he had the opportunity to say it… he couldn't. He noticed that her eyes were closed now and he took in a deep breath before gently slipping his hand on the side of her neck, letting his fingers slide through her hair. "You're so beautiful, Kenoyo," he whispered as an introduction to what he had to tell her.

"_ He used to run his hands through my hair and whisper how I was beautiful…" _

Something in the girl snapped as she whirled around and made a wild dash for the door, but Gaara grabbed her wrist to stop her. Frantically, she tried to pull it out of his iron grasp yet found out that he was holding on too tightly for her. Tears of fear slid down her face and a long scream left her throat as he wouldn't let her go. She heard footsteps running towards the room and felt relief flooding through her trembling body, but her blood froze again soon after. Sand rushed to the door, making a wall in front of it so no one could enter nor exit the room.

Once the sand stopped moving, Kenoyo felt Gaara let go of her wrist and she flung herself at the wall of sand, hitting it with her fists as Temari shouted from the other side. The captive girl's mind was whirring and she could hear Gaara's siblings begging him not to kill her. She fell to her knees, her shaking legs not being able to support her weight and started to crawl away from the sand ninja like if she could somehow escape.

She went as far as the corner of the room, then huddled in it and raised her terror-filled eyes at Gaara. The boy was staring at her, now an emotionless expression on his face. _'Well if he's going to kill me, I might as well let him have it,'_ she thought, resolving herself to her fate before shouting, "I know what you did to Azumi, Gaara! I know you did exactly to her what you're doing to me! You cruel, heartless freak! No wonder no one in this village wants to see you! I don't know how I ever cared for you, how I ever let myself be in the same house as you! I hate you, Sabaku no Gaara! I hate you, _you monster_!"

Gaara felt her words shatter his heart one by one, his expression never changing from the emotionless mask he wore all the time. But when she called him a monster, he flinched and turned his back to her, closing his eyes in pain.

Then he sighed and said bitterly, "I should kill you for saying these things to me, Kenoyo. But I won't. I couldn't kill the only person that I thought I could trust. Because I thought that I could trust you, I thought that I had finally found someone who wouldn't let rumors taint the trust they have in me. Thank you, Kenoyo, thank you for showing me that trust leads to nothing!"

The sand fell from the door and slipped back into his gourd, his silence telling her to get out now. Her body, though, was petrified and tears started to slide down her face as she realized the mistake she had just committed. They had lied to her. The teenagers had lied to her and made her lose everything she had accomplished these last two days with the cold sand ninja.

"Gaara…" she choked out, slowly standing up on shaky legs. "I-I'm sorry! I really am, I didn't mean what I just said. I'm so sorry! Forgive me, Gaara, I'm so sorry!" she begged helplessly, tears slipping down her face with regret. She felt a heavy weight pushing her heart, crushing it and making it difficult for her to breathe.

He snickered slightly, then snapped, "Do I have to make you leave the room or will you do it yourself?"

Kenoyo ducked her head and slipped out of the room, walking in front of Temari. She didn't say a word to her as she stepped in her own bedroom and shut the door behind her, then slid down against it and buried her face in her knees. "Gaara," she whispered to herself longingly, then shook her head and crawled in her bed before crying herself to sleep.

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A/N: I am obviously not having a good day. Since when do I write angst-filled chapters like that? Oh well. I promise, dear readers, that the next chapter will be extremely fluffy to make up for the lack of fluff in this one. Review!

Take care


	7. The Sweetest Night

Disclaimer   
Do people actually read the disclaimers...?

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**Chapter Seven: The Sweetest Night **

A whole week passed after the incident and every time Kenoyo stepped in a room Gaara was in, he would get up and leave. Every single day was getting harder and harder and she didn't know how long she could stand this rejection. Her love for him hadn't stopped to grow and not being able to look directly at him made every minute a torture. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she missed the way he looked at her as if he could read her soul. It made her feel so uncomfortable, but at the same time she felt a thrill go through her body every time he rested his eyes deeply in hers.

It was midnight when she finally fell asleep, yet she didn't stay that way a long time. She felt a hand slowly starting to stroke her hair and she broke into a smile, thinking in her sleepy state that it was Gaara. She turned her head and allowed him to gently brush her face with his fingers and she felt some rough lips crash on her forehead. A simple act that rid the smile from her face in a second.

_'Gaara would never kiss me after what I did. Never,_' she told herself as her eyes snapped open, jerking her instantly awake. The man leaning over her had jet black eyes and his face and hair were covered in a black cloth mask that conceled his identity. His whole set of clothing was black and he slapped his hand on her mouth so she wouldn't scream.

Kenoyo started to trash around the bed as the moonlight hit her fear-filled face. He pulled the covers from her and pinned her down by putting a knee to her stomach, which blocked her from using any Jutsus. Once she had stopped moving and was fearfully anticipating his next move, he leaned down and brought his lips close to hers, about to kiss her.

But he didn't get the chance to do so as a violent wall of sand hit him forcefully, throwing him on the ground. The man didn't even get to shout for help as sand swallowed him whole, crushing his body to pieces. All the blood was instantly soaked up in the carpet of sand, which soon started to float back to a dark corner of the room, filling Gaara's gourd.

Kenoyo fell off her bed to her knees as she stared at the boy in the room with her while shivering uncontrollably. The air had become deathly cold and her thin pajama pants and sleeveless shirt didn't do much to warm her up. She propped her back against her bed, her body numb as she dumbly stared in front of her, in shock. It took a few seconds, but she finally whispered, "Thank you," before closing her eyes.

Gaara didn't answer and it slowly settled in how badly she could be in trouble right now. He had literally saved her life. She opened her eyes only when she heard a sound like somebody dropping something. The sand ninja had slipped off his gourd and had dropped it close to the wall, then he slowly walked over and sat in front of the girl he loved.

"Stop crying, he didn't do anything to you," he said rather coldly as tears flowed freely down her face. She brought a shivering hand to her face, touching her cheek absent-mindedly as she realized she was crying.

Sighing, the sand ninja tugged the rope tied around his waist and pulled off his shirt, then placed it around her shaking shoulders. Kenoyo watched him act first as the warmth of his shirt gradually snapped her out of her state of shock. "You saved my life," she whispered thankfully, clutching at his shirt to keep her warm as she sniffed.

"I couldn't watch him kiss you," he admitted, leaning over and brushing her tears away with his thumb. Kenoyo smiled weakly at his confession, and looked up at his handsome face. But when he looked back at her, she lowered her head, unable to face him. She remembered how nasty she had been with him, and the memory brought a flash of shame to her already hot face. But her eyes stopped on his muscular chest and her heart started to race with envy. If she hadn't believed those teenagers, maybe right now she could be resting her head on him right now. Shaking her head, she turned away from him as more tears slid down her face.

Gaara sighed and went to sit down beside her, noticing she was still shaking. "What's wrong?" he asked her, looking straight at her.

Kenoyo turned to face him, but her eyes couldn't go higher than his bare neck, so she simply closed them and murmured, "I'm just wondering how we would be right now if I hadn't believed those stupid teenagers. We'd probably be both happy, but I wrecked everything!" A new rush of pain entered her and she began to shake twice as much and tears started to flow again.

Gaara groaned impatiently, rolling his eyes as he said, "Will you stop crying! It doesn't help to cry, all it does is make you feel horrible! There was nothing between us and there never will be!" He hated these words that he just spoke, but he couldn't let himself trust again. It would hurt too much when she'd reject him a second time.

But Kenoyo couldn't stop crying and she suddenly leaned over and dropped her forehead to his shoulder, weeping. "I'm so sorry," she whispered again, holding herself tightly. "But you're wrong. There is something between us and you know it."

Seeing her cry and hearing her words made Gaara break. He shifted his position slightly and wrapped one arm around her shoulders, drawing her close to him. He felt her shaking in his embrace and he wrapped his second arm around her before gently rubbing her back. Kenoyo's tears lessened as she gently rested her head in the crook of his neck, wrapping her arms around his waist and pulling herself closer to him.

It took a few minutes, but she eventually stopped shaking and her tears halted. She could hear and feel his heart racing inside his chest and she smiled as it matched the frantic beats of her own. The room was silent, they both knew that a single word would ruin the perfect moment they were in right now.

Kenoyo felt Gaara's hand running through her hair as his other one was placed peacefully on her back. His cheek was resting on top of her head and his eyes were closed to anchor the moment in his mind forever. She smiled, taking in a deep breath of his enthralling scent as she moved one of her arms to wrap it around his neck and rested her other hand on his strong chest.

They stayed put this way for a few minutes, but then Gaara noticed that the girl's breathing had slowed and her body had gone slightly limp. She had fallen asleep on him and for the first time in years, he broke into a real smile. Not an "I'm-going-to-kill-you" smirk, but a sweet, caring smile as he murmured, "Sleep tight, Kenoyo. You deserve it."

----------

The hours passed by much too quickly for Gaara's taste. He was used to long, boring nights but now it went by quicker than a flash. When the first rays of sun began to filter through the room, he slowly went through the long process of getting her off of him. But before that he picked her up gently and placed her on the bed, then pulled the covers on top of her. He stood over her sleeping figure for a while, making sure she didn't wake up, then turned around and slowly exited the room. Going back in his own bedroom, he opened his closet and pulled out another shirt since Kenoyo was still wearing his.

As he got dressed, he thought of the night he just had and smiled again, knowing that whatever bad feelings Kenoyo and he might've had towards each other were now gone. He still didn't know how he could bring joy to a girl as gorgeous as she, but somehow he managed. He was willing to do anything to keep her safe. He used to live to kill, but now he would live to bring her happiness and safety. As long as she was with him, he wouldn't have to resort to killing anyone to feel alive, because love was a good enough reason to keep him happy.

_'Thank you, Kenoyo, for showing me what love is…'_

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A/N: Aww, fluff! This is for all of you who were like "Aww poor Gaara!" Hope you guys enjoyed it

Now I'm having a mild case of Writer's Block so I might not get a chapter out for a few days. But review anyways, I love reviews!

Take care!


	8. A Painful Decision

Disclaimer   
Shakespear would've come up with a great disclaimer... sadly, I can't...

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**Chapter Eight: A Painful Decision**

Kenoyo woke up at about eight am, the sounds of pots and pans clashing together in the kitchen jerking her from her sleep. She groggily turned onto her back and sighed deeply with a smile.

_'That was the best dream ever,'_ she thought to herself. _'I only wish that it'll come true and soon!' _The girl sat up and stretched, but when she brought her arms down she frowned and looked down at herself, then her mouth snapped open. She was wearing Gaara's shirt. So it hadn't been a dream after all, it had really happened.

Grinning, she swung her long legs from the bed and looked around the room dreamily, wondering how Gaara must've felt when he left her room last night. She had obviously fallen asleep in his arms, so was he angry? Or was he pacing in his room, waiting anxiously for her to wake up?

But then a burst of laughter left Kenoyo's lips as she shook her head. She definitely had her answer. Getting up, she walked over to the corner of her room and picked up Gaara's gourd from the floor, then started to laugh again. He had probably been so distracted that he had forgotten it. Shaking her head with mirth, she carefully set it down, took off her pajamas, and then slipped into new clothes for the day.

When she was ready, Kenoyo neatly folded Gaara's shirt and slipped his gourd over her back, groaning with the sudden added weight. _'How in the world does he carry this around all day?'_ she asked herself as she walked out of her room and took the direction of his.

She didn't even knock when she arrived at his door; she simply pushed it open with her hand and slipped inside. Kenoyo found the boy she loved simply sitting down on his bed with his legs crossed and his eyes closed. She then tiptoed until she was right beside him, before gently putting his shirt down on his bed and pulling his gourd off from her back. He still hadn't moved a muscle, which meant he was focusing really hard on his thoughts. Half of her didn't want to bother him, but the other half begged for his attention.

Kenoyo gently passed the strap that held his gourd to his body around him and placed it in position on his back, making his eyes snap open in response to the physical contact. He turned and stared at his gourd when Kenoyo finished putting it on his back, then looked at her simply as she whispered teasingly, "Someone must've been out of focus last night."

He rolled his eyes, then pulled her arm so that she'd sit down beside him. Kenoyo found no problem in this and she even leaned over and dropped her head on his chest, making him wrap his arms around her. Her heartbeat picked up, but she didn't try to stop it; it was natural.

"You're beautiful this morning," Gaara murmured in her ear, making her look up at him in surprise. It was so unusual for the cold sand ninja to give out compliments, but when she looked up at him her mouth fell open. He was smiling at her. The first smile she had ever seen him give. A small uplift of the corners of his mouth, but it was a smile nonetheless. But it didn't last long as his face turned back emotionless, yet his eyes held a great amount of emotion that he couldn't quite hide from her.

"Thank you," Kenoyo whispered back, her eyes shining happily. She couldn't believe that he had just smiled for her. But she wouldn't say anything to him about it because she was worried that he would stop. She then broke the embrace and asked him, "Are you coming for breakfast?"

He shook his head and said that he had already eaten, then closed his eyes once more. Kenoyo shrugged and turned around to go in the kitchen. Once she reached her destination, the front door was just closing.

"Temari had to go into town," Kankuro's voice rang from behind her. She jumped and turned rather quickly, but then smiled at her lover's older brother. He also smiled at her and kept on talking, "Well, somebody's feeling better this morning! It's been so long I didn't see that lovely smile on your face!"

Kenoyo awkwardly looked away, the smile fading off gradually. Kankuro had made it obvious that he found her pretty and he had doubled his efforts to get her attention ever since her fight with Gaara. But every single time she pushed him away politely, yet he never got the hint. The black-haired girl was getting really sick of it and she turned around as his eyes lowered to check her up and down.

"Listen, Kankuro…" she started slowly, unsure of how to tell him how she really felt. Sighing, the girl went to sit down on a chair and said, "I love Gaara. I'm sorry, but there's no easier way to say it. I really wish that you could stop to flirt with me, I consider you as a friend and that's it!"

Her words were harsh, but effective. Grumbling to himself, the puppeteer turned around and left her behind in the kitchen. Kenoyo sighed, suddenly lonely. As much as she had promised herself never to go back into town, she couldn't stand the solitude. Especially since her mind had been wrapped up around a delicate subject these last few day.

The girl stood up and left the house, walking towards the town. She pretty much lost herself in the streets before Temari suddenly spotted her and ran up to her friend, but her happy expression turned sour as she noticed Kenoyo's saddened eyes. "What's going on?" the blonde girl asked, suddenly worried Gaara had done something to the poor girl. But Kenoyo's story was much different than what Temari had expected it to be.

"I have to go back home, Temari. My friends and Tadashi-Sensei must all think I'm dead. Plus I can't stay at your place forever you know… I feel like such a burden to you guys!" Kenoyo gushed out in one breath, her expression darkening even more.

But Temari was quick to understand and to say, "You should leave and go say a proper goodbye to your friends and family, but then come back! I love having you over at my place, it's so much more lively now that another girl lives in the house. I wish that you could forget all about your friends and just stay, yet that's impossible, I know. Come back after, even if Gaara and you didn't work out. I'd miss you too much if you were to leave forever…"

Kenoyo broke into a smile as she stopped walking, which made Temari stop also. "Actually we had a talk last night. We pretty much fixed up everything. But I'm so scared that Gaara will be angry with me, that he'll think I'm betraying him—"she stopped as her wandering eyes stopped on Gaara walking towards her, his arms crossed on his chest.

It didn't take Temari half a minute to have bolted away from the two, but Kenoyo didn't find herself slightly apprehending being alone with Gaara. Actually, she was glad to be able to talk to him one-on-one. He stopped in front of her, not saying a word, but she couldn't wait nor play around with words; she simply told him what she wanted to do while looking at him right in the eyes.

Gaara didn't move a muscle and his eyes didn't falter, but he only opened his mouth to say, "Are they _that_ important to you?"

Kenoyo nodded, her mind made up. "I'm going to leave tomorrow morning!" she announced, and when he frowned slightly she raised a hand and gently stroked his cheek as her voice tipped and she said, "The faster I leave, the faster I come back. I promise you I will only leave for a few days, maximum two weeks…"

She saw that he wasn't quite believing her, but it was something she had to do if she wanted to be at peace with herself. The girl slipped her arms around his neck and pulled herself close to him, then soon felt his arms wrap themselves around her waist. "I love you," she whispered to him softly, closing her eyes to take in the moment.

--- The morning after ---

"I'll come back soon, I promise," Kenoyo whispered again as Gaara looked down sadly at her. She had packed up a bag with enough water to last her a month, but she was ready to thread through the desert. She had almost given up on going when she had awoken this morning and found him standing beside her bed, looking down at her lovingly. He didn't want her to leave, and she didn't want to, but she would come back.

He hadn't said a word, yet he didn't have to. His eyes said everything for him. They gave each other a last, long hug before she turned around and started to walk. After a few minutes, she turned around to see the disappearing Sand Village, but she could still make out the lone figure watching her as she left. Kenoyo's heart squeezed painfully as their separation felt more like a physical rip than temporary leave, but she knew she had to be strong. She would come back, that she was sure of.

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A/N: Wow, just got out of writer's block after a long six days of suffering in the dark corner of that horrible curse. This chapter is shaky, I know, but next one will be better. Promise!

By the way, I got a lot of questions from people asking me if the story was done. No, it isn't for at least 3-4 more chapters. I'll tell you all when this story will be done.

Review please!

Take care!


	9. Home Sweet Home

Disclaimer   
To disclaim or not to disclaim... that is the question... 

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She thankfully found them sparring together in the yard in front of the academy. She stopped as her closest friend Mitsumi shut her eyes, focusing on doing whichever trick their Sensei had asked her to do. After a few seconds and handseals, the brown-haired girl opened her turquoise eyes and peeked at Tadashi.

"Did I get it?" she asked hopefully, making her Sensei groan in desperation. He shook his head, and was about to tell her to try it again when his eyes rested on Kenoyo. Tadashi's mouth fell open, and Mitsumi turned around to see what had shocked her Sensei. But the girl had exactly the same reaction, yet she unfroze before he did and ran towards her friend, screaming in happiness.

"You're back, you're back! I thought you were dead!" the younger girl wailed, flinging herself in Kenoyo's arms. They embraced for a while and then Kenoyo pulled away only to be hugged by her Sensei, who also was glad that she was back.

"Come on, we have to get you unpacked!" Mitsumi said, dragging her towards the small apartment they lived in. The older friend laughed and kept on walking beside her, glad she was home. But her heart was still tugging towards Sand Village, where Gaara was waiting for her.

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Later that day, Mitsumi and Kenoyo were both sitting against their beds, facing each other. Usually, their Sensei would tell them that it was useless for them to just sit back, relax and just talk, but this time he let it slide and allowed the two girls some privacy.

After a few jokes and talks of light subject, Kenoyo sighed and turned serious. "Listen, Mitsumi… I have to go back to Sand Village. I'm sorry, I know it's going to hurt you, but I have to go back…"

The other girl's mouth fell open in shock. At first, she whimpered that Kenoyo couldn't leave, that she'd miss her too much. Then she moved on to listing all the things that she'd lose if she was to leave. But after a few minutes, her eyes narrowed and she looked at her friend suspiciously before asking, "Who's the guy?"

Kenoyo burst in laughter and shook her head. "How did you guess!?" she asked, not answering her just yet. She wanted Mitsumi to work for the name. Half of her wanted to tell her, but the other half apprehended what her friend would say about her new boyfriend.

Mitsumi squealed, making her friend roll her eyes as she clapped her hands in happiness. "You are so busted! Spill the name out, sister! Now!" she begged, her eyes shining in excitement.

Kenoyo allowed a few seconds to pass, letting the silence torture her friend, and then she said, "Well I'm seeing Sabaku no Gaara…" She broke into a smile, looking up at her friend, her eyes almost pleading her not to freak out too much.

The 15 year old girl's mouth snapped open for a second time in one day, but instead of gushing about how he was a monster she started to laugh. "As if you, Kimura Kenoyo, is actually going out with the only guy in this world that's cold like ice! Wow! Congratulations!" she exclaimed, then went to give her friend a long hug of happiness. But when she pulled away she asked, "When are you leaving?"

"In two or three days," Kenoyo answered, glad that Mitsumi hadn't given her any trouble about Gaara.

Her friend's happy face fell again, but into a grim resolution. _'Alteast I'm seeing her again, she could've left without saying goodbye,'_ Mitsumi thought to herself. But she pasted on a smile for her friend's sake and said, "Alright. Three days is good I guess. We can't keep you away from the now taken Sand Ninja for too long or he'll come to get you and we'll all suffer his wrath!"

-- Three days later --

"Come in!" Tadashi called from inside his apartment.

Kenoyo pushed the door open, leaving her packed bags close to the door. "Hi," she said meekly, going to sit down in his office. He always brought his students there when they needed to talk to him, so it was obvious she had something rather serious to tell him. But Tadashi didn't leave her any chance to speak, for he started to talk before she could say anything.

"Hi, Kenoyo! I'm glad you came, because we can't let you and Mitsumi just walk around all day doing nothing! Your training will start this afternoon, right after lunch! I'm going to teach you how—"

The girl was pretty much wincing through his speech and she rather impolitely cut him off and said, "No. I won't start my training. I'm leaving Konoha for good, Tadashi-Sensei. I'm going back to the Sand Village."

He looked shocked at first, but then his expression softened and he smiled. "I see, so you've finally had enough with training. You are strong enough to be on your own, even if I had wished that you'd learn two or three other jutsus before I'd let you go. What are your plans in Sand Village? It's not like you have any place to go, plus you're throwing away the chances of taking the Jounin exams..."

Without any hesitation, Kenoyo answered rather coldly, "I met, and fell in love with, Gaara of the Desert. He'll probably teach me a lot more jutsus than you ever could, and more powerful ones too!"

Tadashi jumped up, his face outraged. Never, ever had one of his students spoken to him in that tone of voice. But the fact that she was going out with one of the most dangerous ninjas in the world made him explode. "Are you crazy?" he snapped at her, his face turning red with the words. "You are dating a monster! You're leaving a stable place to go live with a boy that could have a bad day and just go in your room and snap your neck! Do you realize what you're doing, Kenoyo?"

But the girl also stood up and glared angrily at her former teacher, crossing her arms like Gaara usually did. "Yes," she simply said, the word drenched in bitterness.

The Sensei sighed and sunk back down in his chair. "You are my biggest disappointment, Kenoyo. I've been working with you for years, and now I see you simply leave everything behind for a boy with a demon inside of him. It truely breaks my heart. But you changed so much in the three weeks you spent with him. Before leaving for Sand Village, there was no way you would've talked to me this way. Now leave, but don't ever come back to see me!"

The student nodded, then left without a goodbye. Hardened by Tadashi's cruel words, she grabbed her bags and started to walk back to Sand Village. Her goodbyes had already been given to Mitsumi and all her other friends from the academy and now all she wanted to do is go back to Gaara. Her heart hammered in her chest painfully as she thought of her sand ninja. _'Two days, Gaara, two days. I'm coming,_' she thought to herself, then emptied her mind and focused on keeping her energy for the long walk.

--Two days later--

It was nearly midday when Kenoyo could see Sand Village in the distance. But there was something wrong. A thick cloud of smoke was coming up from the city and even if Kenoyo had been hiking since four am, she began to run despite her fatigue. Yet when she stepped into the usually quiet town, her heart stopped and she felt the blood draining from her face.

Ninjas from both Suna and an unknown one were fighting, though most people from the other village were dead. Doctors from the home Village were rushing to fallen people of their kind and trying to save them. Most houses were either burnt or were damaged, but Kenoyo's eyes were frantically scanning the fallen bodies, hoping with all her might that she wouldn't find Gaara amongst the dead.

The girl dropped her possessions and began to run, dodging the remaining ninjas who were fighting. She ran for only a few seconds, yet they felt more like hours as she frantically went through the littered streets. After only a minute of searching, her eyes finally fell on the boy she loved. Kenoyo stopped in the street, her feet refusing to go farther as a single word left her throat in a scream, "Gaara!"

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A/N: I'm going to be terribly mean and stop my chapter there! XD Ooh, I just love cliffhangers. Well I love to write them, not to read them of course. So I will understand if all my reviewers try to hunt me down and burn me to ashes, but I'd love to get constructive criticism on the chapter.

I'll try to write chapter 10 fast, because it is really evil of me to finish the chapter this way! But remember, the more reviews I get, the faster I write!

Also, if anyone wonders what happened in Konoha to Mitsumi after, I've written a SasukeOC called "The Fire of Love", which is centered around Mitsumi and Sasuke after Motoko left.

Take care!


	10. The Destruction

Disclaimer   
See the last 9 disclaimers and take a guess.

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_The girl dropped her possessions and began to run, dodging the remaining ninjas who were fighting. She ran for only a few seconds, yet they felt more like hours as she frantically went through the littered streets. After only a minute of searching, her eyes finally fell on the boy she loved. Kenoyo stopped in the street, her feet refusing to go farther as a single word left her throat in a scream, "Gaara!" _

**Chapter Ten: The Destruction  
**  
Kenoyo was standing about fifteen feet from Gaara and the sight that met her eyes that day would haunt her for the rest of her life. He was standing in front of a much taller, stronger man, but his health was obviously degrading by the second. Gaara's side was bleeding and he was stumbling around as if his legs were injured also. He wasn't smiling like he usually did in combats, instead his face was strained and he was breathing with obvious difficulty.

Meanwhile, his opponent didn't seem to be too affected. In fact, he was probably the leader of the attacking village; he had obviously waited until Gaara would step forward to fight him. Yet the Sand Ninja had practically no more chakra left in him and even if he should never do so in a combat, he turned his head when he heard her voice.

"Stay back," he snapped at Kenoyo before turning back to his enemy.

"You are too weak, Sand Ninja! Now back down and I may spare your life!" the man hissed at him cruelly, but Gaara squared his shoulders in pride. He would never back down in front of an enemy, especially one who would probably kill Kenoyo if he did. Seeing her close to him boosted his confidence and he gathered all the rest of his chakra to swallow his opponent in his Desert Coffin attack. The man started to struggle, but so did Gaara. His legs began to shake even more and his attack began to weaken after a few seconds.

Kenoyo shrunk back in the shadows, even if she knew that she should be helping him. But when she saw his attack weakening, she took a few steps forward, worried to death about his safety.

Yet Gaara turned his head and saw Kenoyo's worried face. He couldn't let anything happen to this beautiful girl. He had already used a full day's worth of chakra, but he forced himself to draw in more to finally do his Desert Funeral.

The man didn't even scream as the sand crushed him, but then everything fell silent as Gaara's legs gave out from under him. He sunk to his knees to finally end up face first in the sand, not moving. Kenoyo then noticed that quite a few villagers had been watching the scene, but no one moved in to see if he was alright. She burst into a run and covered up the few feet quickly, then fell to her knees beside the unconscious Gaara and turned him around so she could see his pale face.

"Gaara…" she whispered, pulling him close to her as villagers began to walk towards her carefully. But the sand shinobi didn't move, his body was limp, and the wound in his side wouldn't stop bleeding. "Can anyone help him?" she called out, looking around frantically for a doctor.

Kenoyo's eyes stopped on two of them, who seemed to be as scared as Gaara as they were of the man who had just been eliminated. Her eyes fired as she shouted, "Hey! You two! Come over here and help him! Please! He just saved you all from that guy, the least you can do is check him up!"

One of the doctors came forward shyly, then uttered, "I'm sorry miss, but if he wakes up… I value my life…" He looked away as she rolled her eyes at how badly he was a coward. But only for Gaara's sake, she leaned over towards the doctor and murmured, "Listen, first I'll hold his head so that if he wakes, I'll be the first thing he sees. If he's in a completely delirious state and kills me, then you'll have time to bolt. Second, he used up all his chakra and his energy, plus he has a bleeding wound. What can he do? Third reason, this guy just saved your ass! So get to work!"

The doctor didn't seem much more convinced by her little speech of arguments, but he knelt down beside the unconscious figure and pulled off his shirt. Kenoyo could now see the reason for the blood on his side and she turned her head around in both shock and pain for him. A long gash, yet probably not that deep, was spread in a diagonal line across his left ribs.

"It's not deep," the doctor murmured to Kenoyo, seeing her face drain with color at the sight of the wound on her lover. He brough a kit forward and pulled out some needle and thread, and even though they were in the middle of the desert, he started to sew him up. Kenoyo dropped her forehead to Gaara's and closed her eyes. She had seen much more horrid scenes than this one before, but just seeing the guy she loved bleeding was excruciating enough.

"All he has to do is take it easy for a few days and he shouldn't pick up his gourd for a while. The weight would probably tear the stitches," he explained, wrapping Gaara's chest with long white gauze and then slipping his ripped shirt over it. Kenoyo nodded and stared slightly as two men came to pick him up to bring him back home.

----------

"Gaara," Kenoyo whispered tenderly, hoping with all of her heart for a reaction from the late Kazekage's son. Sadly, he didn't move a muscle and she sighed with discouragement. He was lying on his bed while she was sitting beside him. Stroking his face tenderly, she called out to him now and then, trying to get him to move a little. Yet he stayed in a state of unconsciousness, and Kenoyo was fearful that he'd have fallen asleep.

She gave a small moan of despair and let herself slip off the bed and onto the ground as she closed her eyes. But soon after, the door of the bedroom opened and closed and Kenoyo's eyes snapped open to see who it was. A sob of happiness escaped her lips as she got up and went to hug Temari.

"I heard you were back, I'm sorry it took so long. I was trying to find Kankuro, I have no clue where he went," Gaara's sister apologized, letting her go. But then she looked down at the younger girl and frowned, "You should go to bed, Kenoyo. You look exhausted."

Going to sleep and leaving Gaara behind was probably the last thing on her mind. There were so many things she wanted to ask, so many questions in her mind. But she couldn't ask a simple one. There were just too much information, it had all went by too fast for her. Finally, she stammered out, "What happened?"

Temari sighed and made Kenoyo sit down on a chair opposite from where Gaara was resting and sat on one right beside hers. "I don't know. We all woke up this morning because of a woman screaming. Pretty much everyone ran outside and there was this legion of ninjas. They never told us anything, they just started to attack at about 6 am…"

Kenoyo was only staring at Gaara, concern evident on her face. "Atleast there's no damage to our house," Temari said, but then noticed her interlocutor wasn't quite following. The older girl sighed, patted Kenoyo's shoulder, then left the pair alone.

The girl pulled off the Leaf Village headband that she had kept on her head and tossed it on the ground, then went to sit on the floor beside the bed. She looked at Gaara lovingly, taking in small details that she had missed so much during her trip. After a few minutes, she closed her eyes and leaned her head on the mattress, hoping with all her might that he would come out of unconsciousness very soon.

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A/N: Heh. Those were some awesome reviews I got! XD Especially from Crazy4Neji! Your review's the only reason I've bee writing like crazy for… nearly 4 hours now! Woot!

Something I found out while writing this chapter: I just suck at action writing, I'm better at angsty romances.

I'm sorry that it actually took a whole two days to finish this, and it's not even good. I'll do better next chapter for you fluff lovers.

…Wow, since when do I rhyme like that! XD

Take care!


	11. The Black Sky

Disclaimer   
Think really hard. Maybe you'll come up with the answer yourself!

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**Chapter Eleven: The Black Sky **

Kenoyo began to laugh happily as Gaara's eyes cracked open for the first time in fourteen hours. "Welcome back to the world of the living," she whispered, seeing him wince with the sudden loud noise of her laugh. He tried to sit up, but her hand pressed down firmly on his right shoulder, not letting him do so.

"Sorry, you're going to be bedridden for a few days, or at least hours" she murmured to him as he cringed from the sudden pain in his ribs. But what concerned her was that he wasn't speaking to her. He simply closed his eyes and turned his face away from hers.

_'He's ashamed,'_ she thought immediately, lowering her eyes in sympathy for the sand ninja. _'He thinks that he's weak because he can't get up.'_ Simply to ease his pain, she gave him a soft smile and she ran her fingers through his hair. "You're quite courageous, Gaara. I don't think anyone else would've taken in the last drop of chakra in them to rid the village of a monster like the one you beat up," she murmured to him, sitting beside his body on the bed.

Gaara was still silent, but after a while he raised his ocean green eyes to her and said simply, "You came back."

His voice was heavy, strained, but at least he spoke. Kenoyo smiled and dropped her forehead to his, whispering on how badly she had missed him. He didn't give her an answer, but closed his eyes and allowed her to stroke his face and hair.

"I swear I'll never leave you again, Gaara. And anyways, look what happens when I do!" she snickered, teasingly looking at his closed eyes. A hint of a smile tugged at the corner of his lips, but he didn't say a word concerning her comment.

But then Gaara broke her orders to relax and sat up painfully, pushing her away. He growled at the rush of heat in his side, but didn't complain out loud. Once he was seated, he looked around the room before giving Kenoyo the piercing look she had grown to love. She allowed his eyes to penetrate deeply in hers, sending a shiver of pleasure through her body. She proudly held his gaze, something that only she was able to do.

They both wanted the same thing, yet who would move first was the question. After a few seconds, Kenoyo grinned and slipped her arms around his neck carefully, and he moved only his right one to draw her close to him. She then gently leaned over and kissed his neck, then brushed her forehead against the place where her lips had been a second ago.

Gaara didn't react to her kiss, but he certainly felt it. "Let me get up," he said rather gruffly. She pulled away from him uneasily, then murmured, "You shouldn't, Gaara. You really shouldn't…"

But the Sand shinobi glared at her, saying with his eyes that he wouldn't let himself be controlled by a girl and she certainly wouldn't tell him what to do. Yet Kenoyo stood up in front of him and crossed her arms, looking down at him coolly. Like her Sensei had so brutally said, she had picked up some habits of his and glaring at others was one of them. "No," she simply said, deciding for him.

Gaara stared right back at her, but then his lips curled into a smirk. She was definitely changing. And he loved it. Without another word, he leaned back down on the bed and closed his eyes to relax, making Kenoyo smile. She then leaned over and gave him a soft kiss on his forehead, then left the room to go sleep.

----------

When Kenoyo woke up, it was jet black outside. Getting up groggily, she stood from her bed and got dressed into warmer clothing, then stepped outside her bedroom. Kankuro, who was just slipping in his bedroom, smiled at her and said, "It's about time you get up. You've slept through the whole day!"

Kenoyo stared at him unbelievingly, but he grinned and closed the door behind himself before she could react. Blinking in confusion, she then remembered why she had gotten up. Gaara. Was he still asleep, or had he 'woken up'?

Pushing open the door of his room, she found him standing up, looking at her. "Finally," he sighed when she stepped in, rolling his eyes coldly.

But Kenoyo saw right through the cold façade and slipped closer to him, burying herself in his embrace. "How are you feeling?" she asked, her voice muffled through his shirt.

He tightened his arms around her and answered her in his soft, controlled voice, "I feel better. The wound is nearly gone, thanks to the demon inside of me. I heal faster than most people."

The pair fell into a long silence before Gaara let her go and walked to the window in his room. He opened it and wordlessly climbed on the roof of his house. Also without making a sound, Kenoyo followed him up.

The night was black, with absolutely no stars and no moon. The air was slightly chilly, but he didn't seem to mind as he sat down and stared at the sky. She followed him and plopped down beside him, then started to look at the sky to mimic him. She struggled to find some stars, something that would make this night romantic. Yet the jet black surrounding did nothing for her and she sighed at the dark atmosphere that made her feel gloomier than anything else.

Gaara looked at her questioningly, still wordlessly. But Kenoyo sighed and brought her knees to her chest before murmuring, "I just came back from Konoha, where I've pretty much been exiled from, only to find Suna half destroyed. I also find my boyfriend injured and most of the town in complete chaos. This is just the perfect welcome back…"

She heard Gaara huff slightly at her whimpering and she sighed and hugged her knees before apologizing softly; she shouldn't whine like that. After a few more seconds, she stretched out her long legs in front of her and simply thought out loud, "My Sensei wanted me to stay in Leaf Village so badly. But I told him no. I couldn't stand to be far away from here, from you."

Kenoyo saw, with her peripheral vision, Gaara turn to look at her. She had had a chance to leave after all, but she didn't take it. She came back to him. The girl turned to face him, then gave the boy she loved a radiant smile even if he knew that deep inside, she was probably grieving the village she left behind.

The corner of Gaara's mouth turned up slightly, enough to make her smile grow even more. But then she avoided her eyes to look up at the black sky. Gaara moved closer to her and, with one hand, turned her face around so she'd look straight at him. She locked her eyes in his and smiled again, yet before she could say anything he leaned over and gently pressed his hot lips against hers.

It was so unexpected that Kenoyo didn't respond at first and he considered pulling away for a fraction of a second. She didn't allow him to back up, though, since she leaned in herself and kissed him back in a gentle fashion. Their first kiss, under a black sky.

Shivers ran up Kenoyo's back as he slid his arms around her and pulled her close, never breaking the kiss. She gladly circled her own around him and stayed put for a while, her mind draining of any other thought than him. Thoughts of Sabaku no Gaara and how badly she loved him. The slight regret about leaving Leaf village flew from her mind as she pressed her lips harder against his. She kissed him for a few more seconds, then gently pulled her lips away from his. Taking a long breath of air to clear her mind, she weakly leaned her head on her Sand ninja's chest.

"I love you, Gaara," she whispered, closing her eyes to lose herself in this perfect moment.

And for the first time in his life, Gaara murmured, "I love you too, Kenoyo."

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A/N: Erm, yeah, thanks for the reviews people! ; Some more threatening than others, but they're all accepted! -Cough- Jayme -cough- ... XD

Lol, it's hilarious! Within 10 minutes of posting up chapter 10, I had a review! I love getting reviews so much!

I posted two chapters in one day! Wow! Props to me! I hope all my faithful reviewers will keep this in mind and will review.

Take care!


	12. Epilogue

Disclaimer   
For the last time, I do not own Naruto.

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**Chapter Twelve & Epilogue: A New Beginning **

Temari's mouth fell open as she stared incredulously at Kenoyo. "Are you serious?" she whispered, her eyes gleaming in happiness.

Kenoyo grinned and nodded, tilting her head. Her hair fell down on her face, yet was slightly shorter than usual due to the Sand Village headband that was wrapped around her head. "I am serious, most villagers were gossiping about it."

Temari allowed herself to fall on a dining room chair, shocked. "My little brother, Kazekage of our village…" she whispered, still not believing what Kenoyo just told her.

The other girl smiled happily and nodded again. "Gaara didn't tell anyone but me, he didn't really want it to be known. I guess it was made official a few minutes ago since everyone's talking about it."

Temari grinned and looked out of the window in the darkness, the moon shining onto the newly reconstructed houses. It was now three weeks after the incident of the unknown race of ninjas who attacked Suna. Everyone's houses were now rebuilt, burials and mourning were over with, and the town had decided it was time for them to have a new Kazekage.

"Never in a lifetime had I expected that they'd pick Gaara for the job! Everyone's scared of him… But I did notice how much he changed since you've been here Kenoyo. He actually answers people when they talk to him!" Temari said, the smile never leaving her lips.

Just as the two girls finished talking, the front door was pushed open. Gaara and Kankuro stepped in, both with emotionless faces. Yet Kenoyo practically ran in Gaara's arms as Temari gave him her congratulations and jumped out of her chair.

But the Sand ninja didn't seem impressed with his new title. Instead, he gave Temari a small smile of acknowledgement and took Kenoyo's hand, then pulled her out of the house and into the night.

Kenoyo couldn't stop smiling as he walked her to a tree and jumped up to sit on a branch. She followed him up, dropping her head on his shoulder as he pulled her close to him. "Kazekage of Suna…" he murmured, as if he couldn't believe it himself.

The girl broke into a grin, pulling away slightly to look at him. "My boyfriend's a Kage!" she exclaimed in a whisper, her smile widening. She was so proud of him and like Temari had said, he had changed so much for the best.

Gaara smirked slightly as his new title, knowing that it would weight down many responsibilities on him. But he didn't mind. Now that Kenoyo had given him a definite new outlook on life, he could actually do something with it.

"Thanks to you. I know every time you go in the village, you gush to everyone on how nice I am," he said, turning to face her with a sly smile on his face.

Kenoyo didn't even answer him; she simply leaned in to kiss him. Every single time their lips would meet, her heart would race frantically and a slight feeling of drowsiness would take control of her mind. No matter how many kisses they shared, he still had the same intoxicating effect on her, and she was craving that sweet prison right now.

"Kenoyo?"

Her lips were a fraction of an inch from his, but she pulled away rather quickly and looked down from the tree towards the girl's voice. She frowned slightly at the trio that were peeking up at her, then clutched Gaara's hand and looked down at them. It was obvious she had acknowledged them, but she didn't have to say a word. Not after what they did to her.

The boy stepped forward, holding his girlfriend's hand tightly and said, "Listen, we're sorry about last time. We won't do it again, promise, and we'd enjoy getting to know you. We're free tonight, if you wanna hang out…"

Kenoyo looked down at the three squirming teenagers. Kenshin, looking right at her boldly, Azumi who studied her shoes in shame, and Natsumi hiding behind the two, looking around nervously.

She gave them a soft smile, but turned her attention back to Gaara and simply said, "No. I'm busy right now."

The new Kazekage's eyes were soft as he leaned forward and whispered, "You can go, Kenoyo. I'm not forcing you to stay."

But the girl could see the need in his face; she knew that he wanted her to stay with him. Kenoyo wasn't regretting her answer at all as she slid back in his arms and shook her head, throwing a glance down at the three teens.

Azumi was now looking up as well and it was evident that she was regretting the lies she spread about Gaara. When her eyes met Kenoyo's, she lowered her head back to her initial position.

But then Natsumi's bubbly personality came out and she jumped in front of the two, smiling up at the couple. "Come on! You and our new Kazekage! It would be fun to get to know you both!" she shouted, even if the couple was only a few feet away from her.

Gaara actually looked surprised and Kenoyo couldn't suppress a smile. It was probably his very first invitation to go somewhere that wasn't mission-related. She looked at him with a grin; letting him answer the invitation he had just been given.

The Kazekage looked down boldly at the trio, making them shift away slightly. But his voice was gentle as he said, "Not tonight. Thank you."

The thanks seemed to shock the teenagers, who had expected him to explode at their request. But eventually they all got out of their shock and slipped away to leave the couple alone.

"That deserved a kiss," Kenoyo whispered, proud of her lover for speaking to them so gently. "Plus the one we didn't finish when they showed up!"

The pair gave each other two long kisses in succession, then Kenoyo gently stroked her own face on his shirt and slid her arms around his waist. But then her hand hit something hard as it passed over one of the pockets in his jacket and she peeked up at him curiously.

Gaara smiled and reached in it to retrieve a set of keys. He then filtered through them until he found two identical ones. He unclipped one of the two and slipped it in Kenoyo's hand, then murmured, "As Kazekage, I now have my own house."

The girl burst into a smile, forming a fist around the key in her hand. "Our house," he specified, leaning over and brushing a sweet kiss on her lips. "Now we can do anything we want without having Temari and Kankuro constantly asking us what we're doing!"

Kenoyo's heart hammered with happiness as she wrapped her arms around Gaara's shoulders and gave him another long kiss before pulling away and smiling peacefully. She looked deeply in his eyes, her mind whirring with a million thoughts. He opened his mouth to ask her what she was thinking, but Kenoyo gently put a finger to his lips and dropped her forehead to his neck.

Her eyes, heavy from tiredness, closed in peace as she began to reflect about her adventure with Gaara. They had had their ups and downs, but from now on there would be no more downs. She was happier than she had ever been and she doubted that there was a happiness bigger than this.

Gaara used to have a wall built around him. A wall that he never would've allowed anyone to pierce through, yet no one ever tried. The sand he used to crush people had scared many of them and villagers were often found having nightmare about his sand murdering them But she had looked right through the facade. She knew that behind his wall of sand, there was a man longing to be loved and cared for.

Right when she was about to fall asleep, she felt Gaara's warm lips gently brush her forehead. Sitting up again, Kenoyo leaned over and locked him in a passionate kiss, then smiled against his lips, knowing there would be many, many more to come in the future.

**  
The end**

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A/N: Aww, my very first story, complete; Happy birthday to my girl Bonez!

Big time apology to the reviewers. I promised two chapters, but I pretty much hit a Writer's Block wall and only wrote one. Maybe, and I say maybe, I'll make a sequel later on. Depending if I top the 100 reviews.

Thank you to those who faithfully reviewed my story, you guys were just awesome!

Take care!


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